Prairie Birds: Fragile Splendor in the Great Plains
- ISBN-10
- 0700610677
- ISBN-13
- 9780700610679
- Category
- Nature / General
- Pages
- 331
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2001
- Publisher
- University Press of Kansas
- Author
- Paul A. Johnsgard
Description
For anyone who has ever thrilled to a cloud of blackbirds or a solitary falcon against the prairie sky, Paul Johnsgard has written a book that will both inspire and inform.
One of America's preeminent ornithologists, Johnsgard blends science, nature, and personal observations to tell the life histories of thirty-three grassland birds. Writing with precision and passion, he draws from his own observations to convey the magic of prairie birds, taking readers hawk-watching at Scotts Bluff or beside a prairie river on a spring evening with song sparrows in the willow thickets and cranes at the water's edge.
In graceful prose, Johnsgard provides an overview of the history, current status, and uncertain future of prairie birds, from falcons and shorebirds to larks and sparrows. Some are intercontinental migrants that winter in South America, others sedentary species or short-distance travelers who may frequent the grasslands of Mexico. Johnsgard describes each species, its features, habits, habitats, migratory patterns, and breeding season ecology with the knowledge and flair that has made his books indispensable for birders of every level of experience.
More than a book on birds, Prairie Birds is a compelling portrait of the native grasslands of the Great Plains, which constitute nearly a fifth of continent and are the most imperiled of North America's terrestrial ecosystems. He tells how birds evolved along with this "ancient sea of grass" over eons of time, and also warns of the effects of human interference on the future of grasslands and birds alike as grazing, burning, and agriculture threaten the native grasses on which many birds depend for survival.
The book features forty-seven drawings by the author, including a number of bird songs sonograms. Appendixes provide an annotated list of more than one hundred prairie preserves, bird checklists for primary refuges and sanctuaries, and a list of all birds and plants mentioned in the text. A list of more than 600 citations makes this a definitive reference as well as a pleasurable read.
Prairie Birds is an essential book for readers everywhere who loves birds and are concerned about their future. It invites us to stop and listen for the song of the pipit or longspur as it shows us America's grasslands in a new light.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Miracle Under the Oaks: The Revival of Nature in America
By William K. StevensThis compelling story of heroism and tenacious human spirit— the first book to look at this momentous new movement—brings alive one of its most astonishing victories.
-
Design for Human Ecosystems: Landscape, Land Use, and Natural Resources
By John Tillman LyleThe designer was Major John Wesley Powell , a man Any number of levels of scale might emerge in the future , whom one does not usually think of as a shaper of landscapes but for the present , all we can do is group the possible or even ...
-
A Traveler's Guide to 116 Michigan Lighthouses
By Laurie PenroseThe lighthouse is tucked snugly between the channel on the north , the nearby Lake Michigan shore on the west , and towering hills on the south . An expansive , shade - dappled lawn sprawls to a wood fence that serves as a divider ...
-
African American Firsts in Science & Technology
By Raymond B. Webster... George W. 318 Neal , Lonnie G. 126 , 312 Nickerson , William J. 11 Nokes , Clarence 121 Page , Lionel F. 356 ... Wanda Anne A. 150 Small , Isadore , III 135 Smart , Brinay 106 Smith , Jonathan S. , II 312 Smith , Morris Leslie 312 ...
-
The Guinness Guide to Nature in Danger
By Noel SimonSCHALLER , George B. ( 1972 ) The Serengeti Lion : a Study of Predator - Prey Relationships . University of Chicago Press , Chicago & London . SCHALLER , George B. ( 1973 ) Serengeti : a Kingdom of Predators . Collins , London .
-
The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature, addresses, and lectures
By Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jean Ferguson Carr, Alfred Riggs FergusonRecords the creative and intellectual development of Emerson as a man of letters through a collection of his writings
-
The Clean Water Act 20 Years Later
By Robert W. Adler, Jessica C. Landman, Diane M. CameronRobert W. Adler, Jessica C. Landman, Diane M. Cameron. 32 33 35 37 39 41 42 43 45 47 48 Chesapeake Executive Council, The Chesapeake Bay... A Progress Report 1990–1991 (1991), 5, 12. Tom Horton and William M. Eichbaum, Turning the Tide, ...
-
Wild and Scenic Rivers of America
By Tim PalmerA new vision is sweeping through ecological science: The dense web of dependencies that makes up an ecosystem has gained an added dimension-the dimension of time. Every field, forest, and...
-
An Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States: Ophioglossaceae to Aristolochiaceae, ferns to birthworts
By Le Roy Abrams, Roxana Stinchfield FerrisType locality : Duffield's Ranch , Sierra Nevada , California . 2 음 6. Phoradendron coloradense Trel . Colorado Desert Mistletoe . Fig . 1293 . Phoradendron coloradense Trel . Monogr . Phora . dendron 39. 1916 .
-
可不可以不變老？: 喚醒長壽基因的科學革命
By 辛克萊David A. Sinclair, 拉普蘭提Matthew D. LaPlante(不過,某些情況下,有人可能會因為太過激進而丟了老命,正如我的匈牙利劇作家曾祖父維特茲〔Miklós Vitéz〕一樣,他在新婚之夜太努力想向小自己四十五歲的新娘證明自己。)多子多孫與短命的關係如果我們的基因不想死,那為何人類無法長生不老?